From Sudan Tribune

April 6, 2009 (JUBA) – A South Sudan-based political party, the United Democratic Salvation Front (UDSF) on Sunday ended three days of its national convention by electing its new Chairman and Secretary General.

Gabriel Changson Chang, an economist and current Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), was elected by the Convention as the new Chairman of the Party.

Albino Akol Akol, a retired Major General in the Sudanese Armed Forces and current Minister for Culture, Youth and Sports in the semi-autonomous region, was also elected as Secretary General.

UDSF party was founded after the 1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement by the current Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.

It became the first legally established political party by former Southern Sudanese rebel fighters since 1983 with its main objective of pursuing the right to self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan in addition to democratization of governance system among others.

After the Khartoum peace deal was finally dishonored by former Sudan government under the current President Omer al-Bashir, the former Party’s Chairman and signatory to the peace deal, Riek Machar, decided to return back to the bush leaving the Party in Khartoum with the rest of its leadership.

The Party afterward split into two with its main stream until recently led by Dr. Joseph Malual - currently a minister in the Government of National Unity.

The other part of it, which became United Democratic Front (UDF) and also calls for total independence of Southern Sudan, has been led by Peter Abdel Rahaman Sule.

The newly elected UDSF Chairman, Gabriel Chang, in his remarks after winning the party’s election said his party would work hand in hand with the ruling party in the South, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and to chart the way forward in the region.